So much for avoidance.

[devils_bargain]

Who: Dorian Gray, Armand St. Just.
Where: Floor 7, Room 1.
When: Morning after the truth flood ends... sort of. It's around 7 pm.
What: An inmate meets his warden for the first time.

Comments

[young_idealist]

Armand was punctual. He was neatly dressed in an attempt to show some respect, and carrying Dorian's file. As he walked, he tried to think of a way to impress upon Mister Gray that he was an authority that had to be considered, and that there were rules here. It wasn't that hard to get along here if one simply understood that.

He stood in front of the door a moment before he could make himself knock. When he did, he rapped firmly three times, then waited.

[devils_bargain]

Dorian laid his cigarette on the ash tray and went to open the door shortly after Armand knocked. He did not rush to the door, but the wait was not impolite.

Dorian looked at the man standing in the hallway. He was unsure at first what to make of him. Their correspondence had not been pleasant, but nothing about him immediately jumped out as particularly unpleasant.

Except for the set of his mouth. He seemed the sort of man who had far too much to say that others did not want to hear whatsoever.

"I trust you are Armand," Dorian said, the very picture of politeness, "Do come in."

[young_idealist]

Armand nodded, taking the moment to look around the room. Although he usually didn't see bedrooms, what he saw was not so different from the English aristocracy he'd encountered. He wasn't entirely sure from the file whether Dorian Gray considered himself as such, but he certainly had connections and money. In life.

"And you must be Dorian, if we're to be so informal. I don't mean to take up much of your time, but that depends upon you." And if it wasn't obvious from their only brief audio exchange, Armand is unashamedly French. His English is impeccable, even without Barge magic, for he lived in England several years, but he still has an accent.

And he held the file in front of his chest, like a shield. He knew already that Dorian didn't like him. He hated being so nervous, but even if his voice was calm, the nerves were there in his mannerisms. "May I sit? Then we can discuss your situation on board here."

[devils_bargain]

Dorian stepped aside to let the other man come inside. Armand appeared nervous, all stiff limbs and the papers awkwardly held against his chest. Dorian was not so much nervous, himself, as he was annoyed at the other man's insistence to meet. Yes, surely, they would have to at least meet once, wouldn't they? But Armand needn't have been rude about it.

"It depends upon what, exactly?" Dorian asked as he shut the door behind him, and gestured to the low, comfortable divan and nearby wing chairs. "Please, do."

[young_idealist]

Armand sat in one of the chairs and rested the file on his lap. His own cabin, sub-divided into a few tiny rooms with a private bath squeezed in, didn't seem half as large as his inmate's. Overall, it was a little impressive. "It depends upon your behavior. The easier this is for everyone, the sooner I'm out of your hair for the day."

"First, I wish to assure you, for good or ill, that I have read every word in this file. These documents don't lie, so I know quite a bit about you. And we will talk specifics some other time."

He wouldn't dare ask for hospitality from an inmate who insisted he bring liquor, but having something to do with his hands would help. Instead of anything useful then, he straightened the file a little and set it down again.

"I have only one question for you at the moment, then I can try to answer you have left about the Barge and your stay here. Do you regret any of it?" He tapped the file with one finger, indicating he hoped Dorian's past actions.

[devils_bargain]

Dorian had nothing to offer, though it was doubtful that he would have if he did. He left the half finished cigarette in the tray, expecting that this meeting would be short and that he could return to it afterward. He did not want to waste it with this unpleasant conversation.

Armand had read his file. Dorian had not been aware there was a file about him, but at this point, he was not surprised. His expression tightened at his displeasure that Armand knew all the details of his life. He had not so much minded that Adrian knew, but Armand, he sensed, would be relentless about it.

"Yes, actually," Dorian said, choosing to be misleading and difficult at the same time. "I regret that I did not live long enough to experience everything."

[young_idealist]

Armand was almost relieved when Dorian said 'yes,' but then the man went on, and he cringed inside. This man wasn't the Borg Queen or a total monster, but everything about him rubbed Armand the wrong way. He couldn't even look at him after that.

"I see." Just those two lame little words. He could force out nothing else for a while.

"Do you still have any questions about how the Barge operates or your place in it?"

[devils_bargain]

Dorian was amused at the reaction his words elicited from Armand. This situation might not be pleasant, but he felt that it might prove entertaining.

"No questions come to mind," Dorian said, "That does not mean there are things I do not know. I have, unfortunately, experienced a flood. The barge flies amongst the stars, I have been told," the name 'flood' did still evade Dorian's understanding, if they were not, in fact, on water.

He did not want to bring up inmate restrictions, because he felt this would just lead to Dorian taking offense and saying something regrettable. He wished to provoke, not to be provoked.

[young_idealist]

"Well, then," Armand began. His mind had gone blank, so he seized on the first thing he picked up from Dorian's speech. "Nobody likes the floods much, even the wardens. You have plenty of company there."

"I would like to talk to you about what job you'll be doing here on the Barge. All the inmates work to keep the Barge running smoothly. What kind of work are you interested in? You need not have experience."

He shifted a bit to pull out a journal with a pen tucked between the pages. "I've made notes on the available jobs if you need some ideas."

[devils_bargain]

Work? No.

"I won't be working," Dorian said simply, brushing aside the idea completely. It was simply not an option.

Dorian eyed the things on Armand's lap with annoyance. This man was far too prepared with incredibly unpleasant things. If Armand pressed the matter, he was surely going to begin to hate him.

[young_idealist]

"That's not an option, Monsieur Gray," Armand said, far more snappishly than he meant. His annoyance at Dorian's attitude was getting to him. He'd learned a lot about people during his vacation, but not people like this. Bored, rich playboys who didn't have any sense of real morality annoyed him. He'd known some of the best hearts in the English aristocracy of his own time. Dorian did not measure up, no matter what his bloodlines.

"There is always a need for hands in the kitchen and the gardens. I supervise the gardens myself. I can't see that you're particularly scientifically or mechanically inclined, so I'm at a loss what to suggest."

[devils_bargain]

Given two two options, kitchens or gardens, he would opt for the gardens if forced to choose. However, Armand supervised the gardens. Additionally, Dorian had no intention of working at any job.

"I'm afraid it will have to be an option," Dorian responded with firm and unyielding finality. This conversation was over, as far as Dorian was concerned.

[young_idealist]

"Then I'll ask Monsieur Maguire which meal shift needs the most help. I'll inform you of your assignment later." Armand wrote a little note in his book, paying more attention to it than Dorian.

His eyes strayed to the cigarette where it sat to the side. "If you behave, I'll make sure you're supplied with a reasonable number of cigarettes when we get supplies at the start of the month. I don't see any reason to encourage drunkenness right now though, so no liquor."

Compared to how he'd been with other inmates, he was being a bit high-handed, but he'd never faced this kind of opposition before. It had been all he could do to prevent Loki or the Borg Queen from killing people for fun. This kind of evil was... outside his immediate experience.

He tried to catch Dorian's gaze. "I don't want to hear of you hurting anyone. Do you understand?"

[devils_bargain]

"Meals?" he asked, "The kitchen?" He was utterly shocked. Beyond shocked. "I think you must not have heard me, I will not be working while I'm here."

Dorian was fuming. This would not happen, he would not allow it to happen. There had to be some way out of it that he had not yet found.

He followed Armand's gaze to his cigarette, which had gone out, and if he was not already frowning enough, he frowned more.

"Are you to be some kind of overbearing guardian to me?" he demanded. Forbidding him liquor as if he were a child or a lush. It was an insult.

"Why should I hurt anyone?" he asked. It was a rhetorical question, mostly, as he was not prone to wantonly harming others. Only when strictly necessary. Silently, he thought, I would not much mind hurting you.

[young_idealist]

Armand closed his notebook and tucked it away. He stood. "I think you must not have heard me. You will work. This isn't a pleasure cruise. More than a hundred people live here, and we all need to eat. Even the vampires."

"As your warden, I am supposed to look after your well-being as much as necessary--ensure you get medical care, ask the Admiral to revive you if you die, and so on. Also, I am to see to your rehabilitation. Is that such a hard concept for a man such as you to understand?"

It was hard to stop once he got going like this. Armand was a man of strong convictions and passionate emotions. It meant a great deal to him to see that his duty to the Admiral was done right. He wasn't going to let this irrational Englishman stand in his way.

"We are not from so far apart on the calendar, less than a hundred years. I know a bit about England as well. It shouldn't be that terrible a job to lead you to better yourself. You cannot possibly be as stupid as you're acting right now."

[devils_bargain]

Dorian was upset. He was furious. Armand was insufferable, he had assigned him to the worst possible job he could possibly imagine. If he did have to work, he would prefer the garden, but there was no way he would ask Armand for any favors now. Though likely the kitchen would wear him down and give him cause to re-evaluate his position on this point.

As if it wasn't all terrible enough, Armand had just called him stupid. He hadn't, really, he had just said he was acting stupid, but Dorian was experiencing the situation completely differently from reality.

"I understand well enough," Dorian said, unpleasantly, "Please leave now."